QB = C  Franks has made some plays and made some freshman mistakes.  So far he has thrown one Pick as did Del Rio before his injury.  On the other hand the re-emergence of a downfield passing game has been big for this team.  Franks is going to have to get better at the nuts and bolts of running the Offense, doing it with tempo, varying the snap count, getting guys lined up properly, recognizing coverages, identifying the Mike LB in each Defensive alignment etc etc.  I'd call the performance out of this position improved over the last several seasons.

RB = B  This grade is due almost entirely to the emergence of Malik Davis.  He's averaging an astounding 7 yards per carry, is a true home run threat and looks like our best back since Mike Gillislee.  Perine is a tough physical runner who lacks elite speed.  Thompson appears to have corrected his fumblitis.  Blitz pickup was downright lousy early on but appears to be getting better.  I don't think we've missed Scarlett at all.  Even if he were available, I'd still say Davis is our best back.

TE = D  This unit has been lousy.  There is no sugar coating it.  Lewis is the only one who can block at all and he's hardly great at it.  The TE's are barely a factor in the passing game.  We really need a talent injection in this unit (the current class looks to be what we need here).

OL = B-  There has been steady improvement since the first week which speaks well for new OL Coach Brad Davis.  Heggie has been pretty solid at Left Guard.  Martez Ivey struggles a little to overpower guys in run blocking but is very good in pass protection.  TJ McCoy is good at drive blocking for the running game but due to his height, struggles much more in pass protection as taller DL have a significant reach advantage over him.  Jawaan Taylor is clearly better at run blocking than pass blocking but he plays with a mean streak and absolutely destroys people when he pulls outside.  That brings us to Right Guard.  We need one.  Two guys play in this spot......and we badly need a Right Guard..... it says something that Heggie can come in as a redshirt freshman and immediately win a starting job at Offensive Guard.  If we had another good Guard, the whole unit would be significantly better.  We have been fortunate thus far to avoid any significant injuries.  Let's hope we get away with this for the rest of the season (knocking on wood).

WR = B+  Cleveland has been dominant thus far.  He is extremely tough to cover on deep routes and teams who fail to double cover him pay for it.  Hammond and Swain have been OK thus far.  Hammond had 3 catches in the first game and has disappeared since then.  Swain has come up with a couple big catches the last two weeks.  Toney has been a playmaker even though he is very far from a polished receiver and needs to learn to run routes better and needs to work on his hands.  Still, he's dynamite with the ball in his hands.  Powell has been above average and is having his best season as a Gator.  Massey has been a total non factor.  It looks like he is not back to where he was before the knee injury.  I think this unit would have been a definite "A" if we had Callaway but his own stupidity prevented that.

Defensive Tackle = B  Clark has been just a guy so far.  Bryan has been good - not up to the level of Brantley from last year, not dominant, but definitely above average.  Ancrum has some ability to rush the passer but he will never be more than that unless he goes on the Will Grier weight gain plan because at 263, he looks like he's on roller skates when other teams run the ball.  Campbell and especially Slaton have looked pretty good as freshmen.  Slaton needs to shed some pounds so he can get more reps without getting gassed but when he's in there, he is just impossible to move out of the hole and gets a pretty good push himself.  Conliffe played a bit late in the game against Vandy and looked fairly good - need to see more to judge.  The Freshmen have really shored up what was otherwise starting to look like a threadbare unit.

Defensive End = A- this is the best position group on the team.  We've struggle a little to set the edge (Zuniga mostly) but we get a pretty good pass rush out of this position and they're pretty disruptive to the ground game.  Sherit and Polite look like the best two but Zuniga and Jefferson would start for almost any other SEC team.  Clayton has only played sparingly (Polite has clearly passed him on the depth chart) because he has struggled in run defense though he remains an effective pass rusher.

Linebacker = C This grade would be significantly higher if we had some depth but the stupidity of Miller and Houston saw to that.  Reese is not the most athletic but is tough and has very good instincts.  Kylan Johnson (our best LB) has been hobbled but played a big role in the game against Vandy - really good to see him back in the lineup.  Vosean Joseph is going to be a good one IMO and he is fast and a good hitter in run Defense.  He struggles a lot in pass coverage.  This is due to youth and will get better.  Moon looks like the freshman he is.  I can see potential in him but he needs experience. 

Safety = D The single worst unit on the team.  Washington is just a guy.  Chauncy Gardner is a natural cornerback and I think will be good as the nickelback next year after Duke Dawson moves on to the NFL.  He is terrible at safety.  He's nowhere near physical enough and is tentative in his tackling. The result is he gets trucked 3 or 4 times per game and takes bad angles plenty more times resulting in missed tackles.  Losing Marcel Harris before the season was a savage blow to the team.  Its tough to judge Shawn Davis, Brad Stewart and Jeawon Taylor since they have played so sparingly....which I don't understand given the starters have played so poorly.  This unit along with the LBs once they are tired and/or we are missing a starter or two have been exploited relentlessly by our last 3 opponents.  With good Safety play we could turn a lot of the chunk yardage plays by opponents into more manageable 5-10 yard gains.  

Cornerback = B+  Surprise!  Marco Wilson and CJ Henderson have been a revelation.  CJ has two pick 6s and has been pretty good overall despite the fact that he is obviously still a bit raw.  He has a LOT of physical upside and will be a major stud in the future.  Marco Wilson is a stud right now.  He doesn't have a pick but gets put on the other team's best WR and but for a catch or two every game, he completely shuts the other team's best receiving threat down.  Quincey and Chad (their dad) were right.  Marco is even better than Quincey.  Both could stand to be a bit stronger/more physical but they're freshmen and that will come with a full year in the weight room.  These guys were 4 stars and rated between #100 and #200 in the composite rankings.  They were both under rated bigtime.  Duke Dawson has been pretty good at Nickel....and yes, the fact that he is back to Nickel is a real testament to Wilson and Henderson who are starting on the outside.  CJ McWilliams gave up a pass this past week but has looked pretty good overall and did have a critical pass defensed on the goal line in the 4th quarter against Tennessee that we badly needed.  I think he'll be a solid one moving forward so that gives us 3 corners we can count on going forward in that freshman class.  This was the talent infusion the position badly needed after Quincey and Jalen Tabor jumped early to the NFL.  DBU lives.

Overall Offense = C.  We are not more than a "C".  We are not special.  Teams are not scared of our Offense...but for the first time in EIGHT EXCRUCIATING YEARS we actually have an Offense worthy of the name!  Holy chit!  We'd have won championships with an Offense this good several times in the last 8 years.  We are showing real, actual, tangible, no chit, PROGRESS!  The good news is we are very very young especially in the wake of the knuckleheads Callaway and Scarlett getting themselves suspended for the year.  The only Seniors we have who play at all are Powell, Goolsby and Thompson.  Just on experience alone, we should take another major step forward next season let alone if we can add some more talent to fill the two major holes we have at Right Guard and Tight End.

Overall Defense = B-  Yes I know the numbers look uglier than this grade would indicate.  Mostly the issue for us on Defense has been giving up chunk plays.  That is a direct reflection on our weaknesses at LB and Safety, and to a much lesser extent, the Defensive Ends not always setting the edge correctly the first couple games especially.  The Defensive Ends look like they're getting better at setting the edge and the Linebacker corps was significantly boosted by the return of Kylan Johnson.  I don't think there's much else we can do there unless and until we get Miller and/or Houston back.  That leaves Safety play.  Something needs to be done there.  The numbers on Defense were not helped the first few weeks by the Offense sputtering until late in games leaving the Defense on the field for long stretches.  Other than finding some solution to the crisis at Safety, I think the Defense has played pretty well overall.  The good news is that the only Seniors are Sherit and Dawson both of whom are good players, and Washington at Safety.  That's it.  We don't even have any other Seniors on the two deep.  Even though we're nowhere near being the outstanding units we have been on this side of the ball since 2007, we are a bit better than just decent this year and look to be much better in the future as all these younger players gain experience.

Special Teams - B  Piniero and Townshend are two of the best kicking specialists in America.  Punt coverage has been god awful.  Yes that's probably due in no small part to the suspensions and James Robinson being held out for health reasons and the injury to Harris which has meant we don't have as many talented athletes to use on special teams.  Still.....that needs to be cleaned up.  Kick return has also not been good when we have chosen to run it out of the endzone.  I think using Cleveland in this role was a bad choice.  Obviously we will need to give somebody else a chance there now - which is what we should have been doing all along anyway.

All in All, I'd say we are right about where most of us thought we'd be at this point.  We have played two of our 6 toughies and have gone 1 and 1 in those games while holding serve against the opponents we should beat.  We've been a little weaker on Defense than most expected (looking at you safeties) but we have finally taken a significant step forward on Offense.  I'll take it.  If we finish splitting the 6 toughies 3 and 3 and win the other games, that will be a pretty successful season.  I think we can do that.